Chapter Fourteen
Author's Note: Any preconceptions you've had about Amy's past in this tale…prepare to have them dashed to pieces.
The interior of the walls was alive with activity. Hedgehogs of all colors and hairstyles hurried this way and that, doing their part to prepare for the great feast. No one seemed to notice the group weaving their way through the crowd.
"Guys, I'll take you to my house, so you can meet my girl…" Tsuko whispered. He led them down the main street, and then turned off to a side road. Picking one of the houses, he opened the door.
"Yumi!" Tsuko yelled as he came inside. A few moments later, Yumi came down the stairs, and when she saw him, her eyes widened, and tears of joy were wept.
"Tsukooo!" she squealed, racing toward him. "Oh, Tsuko, you don't know how hard it's been without you! It's been a nightmare! Bakura's been hounding me, harassing me! Oh how good it is for you to be back!" She put her head on his chest, and sobbed.
Shadow walked in on this scene. "You two need some time alone…" Shadow closed the door quietly.
"Sounds like the girl missed Tsuko a lot." Espio said. "Anyway, can you get a scan on the area, Omega?
Omega nodded. "Affirmative. Target assumed to be Sonic. Please wait." The robot then began to whir a bit, his eyes looking every which way.
"Scan complete. Target found to be at clock position 11:45. Scanners also detect a large castle at clock position 6:15."
Tsuko opened the door a moment later. "Sorry about that…you can come in now." The group entered the small hut. It was about as big as Cadmus', but simpler and even a bit cozier. Yumi was sitting down on a small mat in the main area.
"Please, sit down, all." Yumi said pleasantly. "Sorry, but we don't have company this often…so I don't have any more mats."
"It's okay," Amy replied. "I'll stand." Shadow and Espio sat down. Yumi got a better look at Amy for the first time, and was startled. She looked very much like Lady Thorn…could she be a twin sister or something, she wondered.
There was a minute or two of awkward silence, before Tsuko began. "So…uh…how do you like my place?"
Omega raised his fist. "There is no time for idle chatter, Tsuko. We must make a plan to defeat Sonic before the autumnal equinox."
"Defeat…Sonic?" Yumi stammered. "But…he's…"
"He's not invincible, Yumi…" Tsuko said to her. "…But Sonic is evil…and a perverted psycho at that."
"Tsuko! Why do you talk of the Overlord that way?"
"Because it's true…and Bakura is that way too…I have a feeling I know who he will choose as his mate for the dry season…"
Amy stamped her foot in anger. "This Bakura guy is a real jerk…I can't believe he's related to you! Urgh! If I ever meet this guy, I swear I'll nail him in the jaw!"
"Just a reminder…" Omega interrupted.
"Yumi…we have to do this…the world is in danger…" Tsuko said to Yumi, now half-pleading. "Don't expose us."
Yumi thought about this for a moment, and then nodded. "All right...but don't expect it to be easy…"
"We would expect nothing less," Shadow said. "That's why Omega brought these along…show 'em, Omega."
Omega opened a hatch in his body cavity to reveal none other than the seven Chaos Emeralds! Yumi's mouth immediately dropped open.
"But…how did you…is he…"
"Yes, Yumi," Amy said. "Knuckles, the Prime Arch-Echidna, as he was called…is dead. And we're going to use the Emeralds to help beat Sonic."
"Wow…this is so…unusual…you seem to know him well…"
"I used to love him…" Amy said, thinking back. "But he shunned me, and all of his friends…for power. He's also under the control of a force not of this earth…"
At that moment, the activity outside became very frenetic. A huge crowd was gathering outside…something important was happening. The group, with Yumi in tow went outside to look.
"Scanners indicate that Sonic is in the middle of that crowd." Omega noted. "Immediate attack is not suggested…too many civilians present, collateral damage would be morally inexcusable."
"Perhaps if we…just talk to him, be friendly…then strike when the time is right…" Espio suggested. "He never was particularly smart…"
As Sonic managed to push his way through the crowd, the group got a good look at him. He hadn't changed much over the years. He was still blue as the sea, but he now sported a blood-red cape with a strange insignia on it: a half of a circle under what appeared to be some sort of flame or a meteor. And his voice had changed…it was similar to the way Knuckles' did. Amy was the first to start their ruse…
"Sonic! Soniiiic!" Amy yelled. Sonic stopped short.
"Oh great…I know that annoying voice anywhere…perfect timing," Sonic said to himself.
"Yo, Sonic! Long time no see!" Shadow said, coming forward in a friendly manner as well.
"Indeed. Fifteen years, Shadow. Fifteen long years," Sonic replied, still not looking at his former friends. "Perhaps we could," he turned around as he said this, "…catch up on old times? Come with me to my castle, and away from these…commoners." He turned and walked back toward his castle.
"I sense trouble…" Espio whispered to Tsuko.
"We have no choice…" Tsuko replied in the same volume. The group followed Sonic into his dark stone castle, which loomed above the village like a giant over peasants.
-- -- -- -- -- --
"Your king is back, my lady, and he's brought guests…" a green hedgehog guard said as he kneeled before the veiled hedgehog queen, Lady Thorn.
"What are their natures? Friends or foes?" the queen asked.
"Their nature appears friendly…and one of them looks very much like you," the guard replied.
"Then she has come." The queen got to her feet and began to walk to the door of her chamber. "I have waited a long time for this day…the day that she would learn the truth…the truth that Shadow knows, but will not admit."
"Yes…I'm sure you'll find it most amusing, madam, knowing what you enjoy."
-- -- -- -- -- --
"Sonic…so…what's it like, ruling all hedgehogs?" Espio asked hesitantly. Sonic was being awfully amiable to them…he was sure there was a trap involved.
Sonic stood up from his large, dark blue-clothed throne, which was obviously the room's main feature. "It has its perks, Espio. They obey my every command…I can inspire an army with a single word…it's good to be king."
"But…why the war with Knuckles," Amy asked, "Why the hate for the echidnas?"
Sonic chuckled at this statement. "Because I realized something about him and his kind…they were too good-hearted for their own sake. They could not embrace the darkness within themselves…I could give you all that chance."
"If you're asking us to help you finish off the echidnas, it's no deal." Amy answered. At this moment, a veiled female hedgehog appeared at the foot of nearby stairs.
Author's Note: This next part is really intense in overall evilness, so I suggest you play some ecstatic choir music or something for the best effect.
"Oh…hello, dearest." Sonic said when he noticed her. "Friends…this is my queen, Lady Thorn." He turned to her. "Come forward and say hello to them…take off that veil of yours and show them your face." Sonic's expression was slowly turning into one of insane glee.
"It's such a pleasure to meet you all, especially you, Amy Rose." Lady Thorn said in a sinister tone. Something big was about to happen…Shadow felt it.
"How do you know my name?" Amy asked.
"Stupid girl…" she removed her veil…and there was Amy's face, except it was twisted into an expression that an insane serial killer would have before he dealt the killing strike.
"Wh…what is this…a…a copy?" Amy stammered, starting to back away.
Lady Thorn's expression turned more neutral, but still had that evil smile. "It's nice to meet you, Amy Rose…no, I can't even call you that…because I…am the real Amy Rose."
"No…it's…" Amy whimpered, turned to Shadow, who was shaking his head in disbelief as well. "Shadow…is she joking? Am I…a copy?"
Sonic was starting to enjoy this, and decided to add to Amy's suffering. "Let me elaborate. You do recall me throwing you off a cliff, no, Amy…"
"Y…yes…but I was saved…"
Sonic cackled insanely. "No! You weren't! The real Amy Rose died that day!"
Espio was confounded. "Then how…"
"I found her body many years later…in the same place where it landed…and now she's back, and my bride! You, Amy, are nothing but a fake! A pale facsimile of the original that you see before you! You don't even deserve to be called a copy!"
Amy fell to her knees. "I'm…not…me?"
Shadow had just about enough of this. "Sonic! Stop this! This is all a pack of lies!"
"You of all people would know Shadow," Lady Thorn spat. "You let her…or should I say…me…die."
Tsuko decided to make the taunting stop in the only way he knew how. He lunged at Lady Thorn, only to get slashed across his arm by a cruelly sharpened scythe. Sonic quickly summoned his guards, which numbered twenty. Tsuko saw his brother in the lead.
"Guards! Toss these fools in the dungeon! I don't want them ruining the feast! And, Bakura…take care of your little brother. He's a feisty one."
Omega reacted to the danger by aiming his machine guns at Sonic and shooting at him. The bullets bounced off of him harmlessly.
"I'll take care of the robot," Sonic snickered. He snapped his fingers, and Omega immediately shut down...how it was done, even Sonic wasn't sure. Without being able to put up a fight, everyone else was dragged down into the castle's dungeon, where they were locked up…
Author's Note: Okay, you can stop the ecstatic choir music now.
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
"We heard you the nine hundred and twenty-sixth time, Amy! Now will you shut up so I can think!" Tsuko moaned. Amy's continual mumbling about how she was not real had gone from pathetic to downright annoying in Tsuko's mind. Amy apparently heard him, since she quieted down.
"Sheesh…can't we do anything without getting thrown into prison?" Espio complained. The morale of the group had gone into a tailspin very quickly, aggravated by Amy's incessant and repetitive "I'm not real…" They had been stuck there for about fifteen hours, and the start of the feast was nearing.
"I just hope Sonic doesn't find the Chaos Emeralds…then we're really doomed…" Shadow said. "And how were we supposed to know it was a trap…it's as if he knew we were coming…damn it! He's even got the place under a Chaos Negate field. We'd need a miracle right now…"
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
"Guys! They're in trouble again!" Cream yelled when she saw what was going on…"and Amy's not looking too good…"
"She found out, didn't she?" Ivo said. "Heh. But I didn't think it would hit her so hard…she's not as strong-willed as I thought she was…"
Knuckles shook his head in doubt. "Shadow can't Chaos Control out of that…but there might be a way…it's a long shot…somehow one of us would have to manifest ourselves into the material world, and try to help from there."
"Let me try!" Charmy yipped. "I've done it before!"
"Really?" Tails asked. "When?"
"I appeared to Espio one day, telling him to ditch Vector. I think we can manifest if someone with the proper mindset to see spirits is present."
"Okay then, Charmy, give it a shot." Knuckles said, giving him a good-luck thumbs-up.
The bee closed his eyes and concentrated hard. His wingbeats increased, and it looked like he was starting to sweat. He began fading in and out, and soon completely disappeared.
-- -- -- -- -- --
Moments later, in a ghostly transparent state, Charmy appeared in the middle of the jail. Espio was rubbing his eyes, but no one else seemed to notice the bee's ghost hovering there.
"Ch…Charmy…what…are you doing here?" Espio stammered. "Don't tell me I'm going crazy!"
"Nope…I'm manifesting, thanks to your open mind. Only way I can." Charmy replied cheerfully. "Concentrate a little, and maybe I can help you out. The keys are right there.
"Espio…what are you doing?" Shadow asked. "I hope you're not going crazy too…because you're talking to yourself."
"Don't mind Shadow…only you can see me. He'll learn how someday. But go ahead. Help me."
Espio closed his eyes and began to concentrate. As he did, Charmy became more and more solid."
"Okay, you can stop now, Espio. I can touch stuff now." Charmy said, holding his hands up. He buzzed over to the key rack several yards away, swiped the keys and handed them to Espio. Shadow and Tsuko were watching the whole time, at least watching the keys hover by themselves and go right into Espio's hands.
"Thanks, Charmy."
"You're welcome!" he cheered, and then disappeared. "Oh, and Tails says hi" were the last things he said before he faded away.
"Espio…what's going on?" Tsuko asked as Espio exited the cell.
"A miracle," Espio replied. He unlocked Shadow's and Tsuko's cells. He was about to open Amy's, but Shadow shook his head.
"She won't be much help in her condition…it seems best that she stay here. Let's go find Omega…"